Naruto The Dragon Sage
by DemonShadowWarrior
Summary: At age five Naruto gets taken away from the village and seven years later he's back for the chunin exams. Warning powerful/serious Naruto. AU.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I've taken a break from my other story due to writers block and my friends keep telling me I should post this one because they think this is a better story. I'll try to update both as often as possible but don't expect more than one update a month.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

A five year old Naruto Uzumaki ran down the streets of Konoha with a small group of people chasing after him. The group was made of mostly civilians but there were a few shinobi present as well. Kunai, shuriken and other projectiles were thrown at him but somehow he dodged them. The little boy ran into an alley and followed it until he reached a dead end, before he could go back the group of villagers surrounded him. The jinchūriki backed away slowly until his back met the wall, the villagers grinned knowing he couldn't escape.

"What did I ever do to you?" the five year old asked with fear evident in his voice. A man walked up to him and punched him in the face causing him to fall to the floor with a broken nose and blood seeping out of his nostrils.

"You killed our families you demon!" one of them shouted.

"You're nothing more than the spawn of a devil!" another shouted. The man who had punched him was slowly walking towards him with the rest of the mob.

"What are you doing to that child?" a commanding voice asked from behind the villagers. They turned to see a tall man wearing a black cloak that hid every part of his body, except his black shinobi sandals, and a hood that also obscured his face from view. "Did I stutter? I asked what you were doing to that kid."

"This 'kid' is responsible for the death of our families and the Fourth Hokage so we were gonna teach it a lesson," someone said.

"I heard the Fourth died fighting the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox and if what you say is true then that means that boy is either a giant fox or he's a jinchūriki," the cloaked man said.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" the leader of them asked angrily.

"I'm Tsuyoshi Ryū also known as the Dragon Sage," he said. The villagers visibly flinched at the name. Tsuyoshi was known around the world for being a master of nearly every jutsu and, while many people asked, he has never taken on an apprentice. He was also known for being the guardian of the Dragon Summoning Scroll and was the only person to ever sign it.

"Lord Tsuyoshi please forgive us for our rudeness," they all said while bowing.

"Get out of here now and you'll be forgiven," Tsuyoshi replied. The ninja jumped up onto the roofs of nearby buildings while the civilians ran away as fast as their feet could carry them. Once they were all gone Tsuyoshi walked up to the jinchūriki and spoke with a soothing voice. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," Naruto said so quietly the Sage almost couldn't hear him. Tsuyoshi took out his hand, which was glowing green, from underneath his cloak and touched his nose. "What are you doing?"

"I just thought that you wouldn't want a broken nose," he replied while smiling, though Naruto couldn't see it because of his hood. "What's your name kid?"

"Naruto Uzumaki," he said, his voice was getting louder as he became more comfortable around the Sage.

"Naruto would you like to travel with me? I travel all around the world so that I can find new jutsu to learn and help people if they need it. So would you like to come with me?"

"Yeah," Naruto said enthusiastically, but after a second his face dropped. "But what about my ninja training? The old man said that I could start my ninja training in a few months."

"If you stay here it is unlikely that you'd ever be properly trained as a ninja but if you were to come with me you'd learn how to become a proper shinobi," he said. "Besides it's not like you're gonna leave forever, you can return here once you're training's completed."

"Alright let's go now sensei!" the blonde shouted while trying to drag the man towards the gates, the Sage chuckled at the young boy's futile attempts to get him to move.

"Hang on Naruto. Shouldn't we tell your parents where you're going," the Dragon Sage said, Naruto's eyes filled with sadness though he kept smiling but his smile seemed more forced and fake.

"I don't have any parents and the orphanage kicked me out a month ago. They said that my real parents hated me because I was evil and that if my real parents didn't want me then who would."

"I'm sorry Naruto I didn't know," Tsuyoshi said sincerely.

"Don't worry about it I've already proved them wrong because I know that the girl at the ramen stand and her father like me and you like me as well right?"

"Of course Naruto."

"See as long as at least one person likes me then I don't care if everyone else hates me," Naruto said.

"Come on if we leave now we can get to Tanzaku Town by morning," he said as he started walking towards the gate with Naruto following behind him.

**The next day**

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in his office using his Crystal Ball Jutsu to search for Naruto. Earlier that day he's sent an ANBU to collect him but when he the ANBU returned he reported that he couldn't find a trace of him anywhere. At first the Third thought that he'd eventually turn up at Ichiraku's Ramen for lunch like always but he hadn't. He'd been searching for the jinchūriki for over two hours using the crystal ball jutsu but it seemed as though Naruto had vanished.

He was disrupted from his search by someone knocking on the door to which he allowed them in. Eight of the chūnin that had been ordered to find Naruto walked in and reported that they couldn't find him anywhere within a five mile radius of the village.

"Maybe we should be happy that he's gone," said a chūnin with pale blue hair. "He was the incarnation of Kyūbi after all."

"You don't know what you're talking about, Mizuki," Iruka Umino said. "He's a good kid and I'm sure the reason he's gone is to escape this village. I know I would if I had to live through what happens to him every day."

"Either way what do we do about him Lord Hokage?" asked another chūnin.

"We don't do anything," he said shocking the shinobi because they know how much he cares for the blonde. "I also revoke the law and people can talk freely about what really happened five years ago. However should Naruto ever come back he shall be under the protection of ANBU at all times. You're dismissed."

"Yes Lord Hokage," the ninja said then left the room.

'_Naruto where ever you are I hope nothing's happened to you,' _Hiruzen thought while pulling out a small bottle of sake from his hidden stash.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I only posted this story yesterday and my e-mail has been flooded with Author and Story Alerts. Also I was going to post this chapter when I posted the story but my friend convinced me that I should wait to see if I got a good response for it and I was going to wait a week but considering all the alerts I got in under a day I decided to post it now.**

After seven years of training Tsuyoshi Ryū and his apprentice Naruto Namikaze were returning to Konoha for the chūnin exams. Throughout the training trip they travelled around the world going from village to village. As they walked along the dirt road which lead to Konoha Tsuyoshi could tell his student was nervous though he showed no emotion and even though Naruto was wearing a black cloak identical to his and a hood that hid his face completely he could see from his student's body language that he was nervous.

"Relax nothing's going to happen while we're there except you graduating to chūnin," the Dragon Sage said to his student.

"But what if someone attacks me they all know about the Kyūbi now so there's a possibility that people my age will attack me."

"You think I've been training you for seven years just for you to be killed by a child who can't even catch you?"

"No sensei it's just I thought I escaped the nightmare of being alone when I was five but when we get there I'll either be attacked or ignored the whole time."

"Does it really matter if you're all alone in one village? You've got friends in other villages who'll probably be there for the exams and even if they're not you still have your summons so you don't have to worry about being alone."

"Thanks sensei," Naruto said. They were soon at the gates and showing the guards they're forms for the chūnin exams and continued walking.

_1 Hour Later – Ichiraku's Ramen Bar_

Naruto had gone straight to his favourite place in the village after unpacking his stuff in the hotel he and his sensei were staying at. As he walked in he saw Teuchi preparing food in the kitchen and his daughter Ayame was watching him.

"Hey what can I get you?" she asked.

"I'll have ten miso pork ramen please," he said.

"You sure you can eat all that?" Ayame asked sceptically.

"Don't you remember me? I used to eat double that amount and I was five," Naruto stated. A clang came from the kitchen and the two turned to see Teuchi had dropped the pot he was using out of shock.

"N-Naruto i-is that you?" he asked.

"Hey old man it's good to see you again, you to Ayame," Naruto said. Said girl turned back to Naruto and gave him a tight hug while tears flowed down her face. Of course Naruto was blushing, though no one could see it, because _certain _parts of Ayame's body were pressed against his chest. "Is everything alright Ayame?"

"We thought you died when we heard you disappeared," Teuchi explained for his daughter because she was currently drenching Naruto's shoulder with her tears. When she finally let go she apologized for her outburst but Naruto told her it was fine.

"We'll give you those ten bowls of ramen on the house because you haven't had our ramen in years," Ayame said cheerfully, though Teuchi seemed slightly saddened but one glare from his daughter and he was more than happy to. He set to work on the ramen while he listened to his favourite customer talk about what he'd been doing over the years. He was slightly surprised to hear about all the missing ninja he helped capture or kill but was even more surprised by who he said was training him. When he finished he left a small pouch on the counter and turned to leave.

"Wait Naruto we told you it was on the house," Teuchi called out.

"It's alright I have more than enough money and besides I don't like getting things for free," he said as he left. Ayame opened the pouch to see a large wad of cash that could pay for ten times as much as the blonde ate.

Meanwhile Naruto was walking around the village trying to remember some of the few good things about it when he heard someone cry for help. He found the source of the cry was the Hokage's grandson being held by his collar by a sand nin with purple war paint on his face while a girl with a battle fan strapped to her back was harassing him.

"Hey Kankurō put the kid down," Naruto shouted at the sand nin, who turned to him and his face became pale.

"Of course Naruto," he said while putting the academy student on the ground who instantly ran behind Naruto.

"Hey Konohamaru wait up!" came a voice from behind Naruto, he turned to see a pink haired girl followed by the Uchiha and Yamanaka heirs.

"Sakura this guy just saved me from that guy wearing makeup," the Hokage's grandson said excitedly.

"You brat this is war paint!" Kankurō shouted while his sister tried to contain her laughter.

"I don't know Kankurō the purple really makes your eyes more noticeable," Temari said smugly while her brother fumed.

"Anyway thanks for saving Konohamaru, I'm Sakura Haruno by the way," the girl said happily.

"I'm Ino Yamanaka," the young heiress said.

"And I'm Sasuke Uchiha," the brooding boy said. "I'm guessing you're here for the Chūnin Exams."

"Yep," Naruto said happily.

"Where are you from and where's your forehead protector?" Sakura asked.

"I don't wear a forehead protector and as for your other question I represent Kumo, Iwa, Suna and Kiri but I come from Konoha."

"That's impossible how could you be a ninja for four of the five major hidden villages?" Sasuke asked.

"Our father, the Fourth Kazekage, made an arrangement with the other Kages," said a cold voice.

"Gaara I was wondering where you were," Naruto said as Gaara appeared by his side via his sand.

"I had to talk with father and he says the offer is still open," the red head said.

"Could you please tell him I don't want to marry Temari," the blonde said while the elder girl walked up to him.

"Why am I not good enough for you?" Temari asked menacingly causing Naruto to sweat.

"Of course not Temari but I just think I'm not ready to have a wife I am only twelve after all."

"But what about when you sixteen?"

"I don't know if your dad will still keep the offer open until then," Naruto told his fellow blonde.

"I'll make sure he does," Gaara said. "After all you're the only one I deem worthy of being my sister's husband, Naruto."

"Wait a second you're Naruto Namikaze the jinchūriki of the Kyūbi aren't you?" Sasuke asked to which Naruto nodded causing the eyes of Sasuke's companions to widen with shock then Sakura narrowed hers with rage evident in them.

"You! My mom told me you're the reason I never met my dad!" Sakura shouted angrily.

"Shut up billboard-brow Naruto's the reason we're all still alive," Ino said. "Besides he's the son of the Fourth so that proves he's a hero."

"I don't care if he is the son of our previous leader he's the reason why most of the villagers lost their family!"

"I think I should point out that I'm not the Fox I'm simply the container," Naruto said.

"Yeah Sakura if he was the Fox he'd have nine tails and fox ears and fur," Konohamaru said innocently.

"Thank you Konohamaru," Naruto said while patting the boy on the head. He then pulled out a slip of paper and handed it out to the Hokage's grandson. "Here can you take this note to your grandfather for me please."

"Sure Naruto," he said while grabbing the paper and running as fast as he could to the tower.

"Now where were we," Naruto asked when he turned back to the pink haired banshee. "Ah yes I believe I was telling you I'm not the Kyūbi and the only reason you think I am is because some of the adults have made you believe I am."

"Shut up you're lying!" Sakura shouted while cocking her fist back ready to punch him however all she hit was a wall of sand that was as hard as a diamond. She retracted her hand which was throbbing with pain.

"Do not attack Naruto again if you value your life," Gaara said menacingly while releasing a bit of killer intent that made her shake slightly. "Kankurō, Temari let's go."

"See ya Naruto," the puppeteer said.

"Bye and don't worry I'll make sure my dad keeps the offer open for you," Temari said while smirking, she promptly left with her two brothers towards their hotel.

"I look forward to seeing you in the exams," Naruto said politely before a ring of blue flames surrounded him, when the flames died down he was gone.

"I can't wait till the chūnin exams when Sasuke will kick that demons ass," Sakura said.

"Shut up forehead," Ino said as she walked away.

'_When I kill you demon it'll prove to my father that I am worthy of the secrets of the sharingan,' _Sasuke thought as he walked away while being followed by his most annoying fan-girl and her annoying friend.

**A/N: That's the end of the second chapter. ****I'll try to make the chapters longer but I'm not very good at writing long chapters.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Alright here's the next chapter and for those of you who want to know I will make Naruto have a harem and I've put a poll up on my profile which I will close in a week. Also I'm going to put the Land of Waves arc after the Chūnin Exams and you'll know my reasons in either the next chapter or the one after that.**

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><p>Naruto walked through the school where the first stage of the chūnin exams was being held. As he walked up to the second floor he noticed a large group crowded round a door that had a genjutsu over it. In front of the door were two chūnin using the transformation jutsu and by the looks of things they weren't letting anyone through. Naruto considered telling the other genin about the genjutsu but decided against it figuring the less competition the better so he tried to make his way through the crowd as discretely as possible but was stopped when a guy with thick eyebrows and wearing a green jumpsuit was pushed into him by the disguised chūnin.<p>

"I'm sorry for my clumsiness," the guy said while bowing.

"Don't worry about it," Naruto replied. "Forgive me but who are you?"

"I am the Handsome Devil of the Hidden Leaf Village, my name is Rock Lee," he said while making a pose and smiling. He then pointed at his teammates. "This is Tenten and Neji. And what is your name my friend?"

"I'm Naruto Namikaze, jinchūriki of the Kyūbi no Yōko," he said happily, a few people backed away from him and glared with hate in their eyes however Lee's team stayed where they were.

"I know about your burden but don't worry I know the difference between a container and the contained. If you would allow me to I would like to be your friend Naruto."

"Of course Lee I can never have enough friends," Naruto replied smiling. He was about to tell his new friend that the exam was on the next floor but he stopped when he heard a voice behind him. Naruto turned to see Sasuke with Sakura standing behind him.

"You have to be the weakest ninja I've ever seen in my life," the Uchiha said. "You morons didn't even notice the genjutsu on the door."

"That's right this is only the second floor," Sakura said backing up the Uchiha.

"You figured it out, huh?" said one of the disguised chūnin before turning to his partner. "Well they ruined it so let's go."

"Right," he said and they both walked into the room they'd been guarding. Sasuke and Sakura walked through the group of genin and went upstairs to the first stage of the chūnin exams while being followed by the rest of the genin leaving Naruto and Team Guy behind.

"That moron Uchiha he doesn't realize the test was to weed out the weakest genin here who don't deserve to be here," Naruto stated with irritation. "Oh well it can't be helped."

"Naruto you knew there was genjutsu on the door and you didn't tell us, why? I thought were friends," Lee said while sobbing.

"Relax Lee I was going to tell you but the Uchiha interrupted me."

"Well then for his unyouthful deed I shall challenge him," the green clad ninja said before running upstairs after Sasuke.

"Lee wait for us!" Lee's only female teammate called out following him.

"That idiot," Neji said as he walked upstairs calmly.

Naruto walked to the exam room to find the room filled with teams from nearly all the Hidden Villages. He figured that rather than be by himself he decided to look for his fellow jinchūriki, Gaara. As he was walking around he heard someone say his name along with Lee's and Gaara's. He turned to see a group of eight of the nine rookies who graduated this year along with another Konoha-nin who had grey hair that he wore in a short ponytail and black eyes behind glasses (Kabuto if you haven't guessed).

The blonde jinchūriki watched as Kabuto took out a deck of cards and poured chakra into three of them, in a few seconds information about him and his two friends appeared on each card. Before Kabuto could start spreading information about him and his friends Naruto appeared in front of him in a flash of blue light and took the three cards off him.

"You know it's not nice to talk about people behind their backs," Naruto said annoyed by the fact this ninja almost spread info about him and his friends.

"I demand you give me those information info-cards," Sasuke growled.

"And who are you to order me around?" Naruto replied.

"You know who I am and as an Uchiha of Konoha you have to do what I say."

"You're right," Naruto agreed before holding the cards for Sasuke to take but as he was about to grab them Naruto yanked them away. "I would have to do what you say if I was a shinobi from Konoha however I'm not so you have no right to boss me around. And even if I was a shinobi from this village I wouldn't do anything you say because your clan is nothing more than bunch of arrogant bastards that think those cursed eyes of yours make you better than everyone else. Your clan disgusts me stealing and copying others hard work then using it against them."

"Shut up and hand me those cards already," Sasuke shouted while lunging at Naruto ready to punch the blonde in the face. Naruto grabbed Sasuke's fist with his right hand then proceeded to kick the boy in the gut and causing him to bend over and, using his free hand, clutched his stomach in pain. Naruto then held left hand out with the info-cards on it and everyone was amazed when the cards burst into flames and burn until only ashes remained that were quickly scattered across the room.

"You want the cards go get them," the jinchūriki said before letting go of Sasuke and walk away.

"All you brats be quiet it's time to start the first phase of the chūnin exams!" bellowed a loud voice. "My name is Ibiki Morino and I'll be your proctor for the first phase of the exams. All of you will hand in your paperwork in exchange for a number, you're seat will be the one with the same number."

After ten minutes everyone was seated and Ibiki explained the rules for the exam then began the test.

'_Ah man I don't know the answers to any of these,' _Naruto thought after he had gone over all the questions. _'I should've studied more like Tsuyoshi-sensei told me. I guess I'll have no choice but to cheat.' _

Naruto thought it would be difficult to cheat because of the sentinels placed around the room however he found it to be easier than kunai practise considering the cloak covered his face so he was easily able to copy the answers from the person seated to his left. After forty five minutes passed everyone was required to stop writing so they could be given the tenth question.

"Alright it's time for the tenth question," the interrogator announced. "Should you get the question wrong you and your team will be eliminated from the exam regardless of your score from the written exam and you'll be prohibited from taking the exam forever. If any of you feel you will not be able to answer the question you can leave now and take the exam next year. You should know that there is no shame in giving up and I won't hold it against you. If any of you want to leave go now along with your teammates."

The number of genin left immediately plummeted until only seventy eight students remained. Ibiki knew this was a high number of students and normally he'd try to get rid of a few but he could see by nearly all their faces that they wouldn't budge from their seats. The only one he was unsure of was Naruto Namikaze because the genin's hood prevented him from seeing his face.

"You, Naruto Namikaze are you sure you want to take the question, it will determine your ninja career?"

"I know but not even having to fight Orochimaru couldn't get me to give up," he said with so much force behind his voice that Ibiki thought that even if he did have to fight the sannin to pass he would. "Now are you gonna give us the question or not?"

"Very well. All seventy eight genin in this room ... Pass with flying colours!" Ibiki shouted while trying to enjoy the looks of shock on most of the young shinobi's faces.

"What do you mean we pass? What about the tenth question?" shouted an enraged Sakura.

"The tenth question was a question of your determination and bravery. By staying where you are you've proved that even if you're faced with uncertain odds you won't back down. That is a quality every hidden village looks for in its shinobi and that further proves you're ready for the rank of chūnin."

Before Ibiki could continue a giant ball of cloth crashed through the window causing shards of glass to be scattered everywhere. The ball seemed to be about to open up when a shuriken snagged it pinning the ball to the chalk board behind it. Apparently something was inside the ball because it started squirming and cursing. Eventually a kunai tore through the material and out popped a woman wearing a mesh body suit that went from the base of her neck down to her thighs, over this she wore a dark orange skirt that left little to the imagination and an overcoat that barely covered her chest. She also had brown pupil-less eyes and she wore her violet hair in a spiky ponytail.

"Alright who's the wise guy who did that?" she shouted at the genin.

"Sorry I thought it was an attack," Naruto said apologetically. The next thing he saw was a kunai flying towards his head at high speed but he managed to catch it inches from his face. "What was that for? I said sorry."

"Sorry ain't gonna cut it kid you ruined my perfectly planned entrance," she growled.

"Anko you jumped the gun as always so I don't see how well planned out it was," Ibiki said from behind her causing Anko to face fault.

"How many are there? Ibiki I can't believe you let all these guys pass, you must be going soft if your test was this easy."

"Or it could be a stronger crop of candidates this year."

"Well they don't look it but don't worry by the end of my test more than half will be eliminated, and chances are more than quarter will probably end up dead," she said with a malicious grin on her face. Some of the genin gulped while others wore their own malicious grins when Anko mentioned more than a quarter will die in her exam. "Everyone follow me to the location for the second stage of the chūnin exams."

An hour later all the chūnin hopefuls were standing in front of a tall metal fence that ran the perimeter around a forest.

"What is this place?" one of the genin asked.

"This is Konoha's forty-forth training ground but most people call it the forest of death," Anko replied.

"It doesn't look so bad," Naruto said and he found yet another kunai flying towards him courtesy of Anko. Just like before he caught it but the crazy lady had put more power behind it then before and the tip managed to nip his cheek. Anko appeared behind him in a second and had taken the kunai and liked the small drop of blood off the tip. "What are you crazy?"

"You know your blood is the most delicious I've ever had," she said avoiding his question. "I hope you don't die in there because blood usually tastes better when it's fresh."

"Can we start the exam?" Naruto asked seemingly unaffected by her blood thirsty nature.

"Of course," she said cheerfully before returning to the front of the crowd. Anko then took out a stack of papers from a pocket inside her jacket. "These are consent forms. Before the test begins all of you are required to read and sign one of these so that if you die out there it's not my responsibility. Now that that's out of the way I'll give you a description of the terrain. The forty-fourth training zone has forty-four locked entrance gates, and consists of dense forest with a river running through the middle. There's a tower in the direct centre of the training zone and it's located ten kilometres from every gate. This test is an anything goes battle royale..."

"By anything goes does that include killing the opponents," Naruto asked interrupting her.

"Yes and a word of advice if you interrupt me again I'll castrate you with a kunai. Anyway your objective is to get to the tower with these two scrolls," she said while pulling out two scrolls, one white and one black with the kanji for Heaven and Earth. "Each team will be given one of these scrolls so only half of you can pass. The test has a time limit of five days and if you're wondering about food and water don't worry the river water is safe to drink and there are plenty of edible things in the forest. There are only three rules to this test; rule one, if a member of your team is killed you must forfeit, rule two, if a member of your team is incapacitated you must forfeit and rule three if you open the scrolls outside of the tower you'll be kicked out of the exam. Now all of you will go to that booth one team at a time and exchange your consent forms for a scroll."

As she spoke two chūnin had pulled a curtain across so no one would be able to see who got which scroll. After an hour every team had their scrolls and was waiting at their appointed gates. Naruto stood alone while holding the Earth scroll he'd been given when Anko announced the start of the test he put the scroll into his hip pouch and walked calmly into the forest.

The second stage of the chūnin exams had begun.

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><p><strong>AN: Don't forget to review. The more reviews I get the sooner I'll update.**


	4. Chapter 4

A day after the test started we find Naruto leaping through the trees in of the forest towards the tower. He already had six copies of both scrolls due to the fact that any team he encountered so far he defeated with relative ease and because he was alone people assumed he was weak so he encountered a lot of teams.

As he was about to jump across a clearing he stopped because something of interest caught his eye. On one side of the clearing an obviously exhausted Sakura Haruno was standing in front of a tree and she had just thrown a kunai at a squirrel that was running towards her, Naruto also noted that there was a paper bomb on its back so he made a shadow clone to help the poor creature. He also saw the unconscious form of the Uchiha heir behind Sakura.

"Why'd she do that?" a female voice asked. Naruto looked down and saw the sole genin team from Oto hidden in the bushes.

"She must have seen the paper bomb we put on it," the one with dark spiky hair commented.

"I don't think that was the reason," the one rapped in bandages said.

"What do you think it was then Dosu?" he asked his teammate.

"I don't know let go find out," Dosu said as he prepared to jump up into the clearing but was stopped when he felt the cold steel of a kunai blade being held against his neck. He looked to his teammates to find they were in similar positions because of the Kyūbi jinchūriki and apparently his clones.

"You know I may be wrong but that girl looks extremely fatigued and even though she obviously needs a rest she's still caring for her teammate. I think you should cut her some slack so how about we strike a deal; I'll give you the scroll you need and in return you leave her and her teammate alone," Naruto said firmly.

"Fine I agree to your terms," Dosu replied much to the shock of his teammates. "I know when I'm facing a stronger opponent and I'd rather live to fight another day."

"Alright then," he said as his clones removed the kunai from their opponents' necks. "Which scroll do you need?"

"An Earth scroll," he said, Naruto handed him an Earth Scroll and watched as they left. Once he was sure they were gone he entered the clearing slowly so he wouldn't alarm Sakura. As soon as he got out of the bushes the girl turned to him and glared.

"Stay away demon-boy," she said while discreetly pulling out a kunai.

"Look I'm not going to hurt you I was just wondering if you needed help," he said.

"Why would I need help from you?" she asked, Naruto suddenly vanished from sight.

"Because you're not in any condition to fight," said a voice behind her. She turned slowly to see Naruto standing there, her first reaction was to try and punch him but he caught her fist so she tried again with her other fist to get the same reaction. Naruto was now holding both her fists in one hand with a tight grip that wouldn't allow her to break free.

"Please don't," Sakura said as tears slowly started to form. "Please don't do it."

"Please don't do what?" Naruto asked confused by her sudden begging.

"P-Please don't k-kill me. M-My mother s-said y-you'd kill me the f-first c-chance yo-you'd get," she said as she choked on tears.

"Your moms an idiot," Naruto said surprising the crying girl. "Why would I want to kill you I'm not the type to do that and besides even if I wanted to I wouldn't because if I did Tsuyoshi-sensei would kill me."

"So y-you're not going to k-kill me?"

"Of course not like I said I want to help you," he said happily while letting go of her fists. "Now tell me what happened."

"Well after the test began me and Sasuke ran into this ninja called Orochimaru who wanted to get our scroll. Sasuke fought him but he beat Sasuke and bit his neck. After he left a really weird mark formed on Sasuke's neck and he's been unconscious since," Sakura explained. "After that I brought Sasuke here and I've been tending to him."

"Alright I'll have a look at the mark and keep look out. You can rest if you want to," Naruto said.

"No it's fine I'm not tired anymore."

The jinchūriki nodded then moved towards the Uchiha and turned him slightly to see the mark. As he examined the seal he was surprised to find that the seal would give the user a massive amount of power, but it would also cause their body damage from extended use not to mention the seal slowly causes them to lose their mind until their nothing more than power-crazed maniacs who would do anything for more power. As he was studying it he also noticed it was radiating purple chakra and it was realising more with every passing second.

"What did that freak put on Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

"He's put a cursed seal on him," Naruto answered.

"Is he going to be alright?"

"Well it depends if he uses it the seal will slowly destroy his body one cell at a time and it would also corrupt his mind until the only thing he wants is power. Even if he doesn't use it, it will still cause him pain so the only way to stop it is to remove it. Unfortunately I don't have the skills to remove it but my sensei does so I'm sure that once this test finishes and if Sasuke survives it sensei will be able to remove it."

"That's good I don't know how I could handle losing another teammate."

"I was going to ask you about that."

"Ask me about what?"

"Well usually three man teams enter the exam, I was an exception because I represent four villages and rather than a five man team I was allowed to enter by myself. But I don't understand why you and Sasuke entered as a two man team."

"Uh it's kind of a long story," Sakura said.

"Well we've got a few days till the test ends. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Naruto reassured.

"No it's fine," she replied before starting her story. "When the teams were formed I was put on a team with Sasuke and his cousin Akio with Kakashi Hatake as our sensei. Kakashi-sensei gave us a test the next day to see if we were ready to become genin and we passed. After that we did nothing but D-ranked missions for a month until Sasuke demanded something more challenging so the Hokage gave us a C-ranked mission to escort this guy named Tazuna to the Land of Waves. On the way we ran into two missing-nin called the Demon Brothers. Kakashi-sensei subdued them but Akio got injured by one of their clawed gauntlets and because they used poison we had to go straight back to Konoha but Akio died before we got back. After that the mission was made B-ranked and because the Land of Waves is a poor country at the moment it's only the pay of a C-rank. No one's accepted the mission yet because everyone in the Uchiha clan blames him for Akio's death and no one wants to upset the Uchiha by accepting the mission or even helping Tazuna out."

"I'm sorry about your teammate but that still doesn't answer my question; why did they allow a two man squad?"

"Well seeing as Sasuke's the heir to the clan the Uchiha don't want to show weakness by forcing him to wait until the next one just because of his cousin's death so they asked the elders to allow a two man squad and they did."

"I should've guessed it was the elders," Naruto said while standing up. "I'll see you at the tower in a few days."

"Where are you going?" Sakura asked.

"The Uchiha is going to wake up soon I don't think I'm one of the people he wants to see most."

"He'll understand if you tell him you helped him."

"I doubt that, here," he said before placing a Heaven and an Earth scroll on the ground next to Sasuke. "Tell him you got them off of another team."

"Thank you," she said as Naruto prepared to leave.

"You're welcome," he said before jumping into the trees just as Sasuke woke up.

"Sasuke you're awake," Sakura said before giving him a bone crushing hug.

"S-Sakura I-I c-can't breathe," Sasuke said as he tried to escape her grasp.

"Sorry about that," she said as she released him. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine just need to rest for a bit," he said. "We'll have to go find some scrolls and after we get them we'll go to the tower."

"No need I've already got two scrolls," the pinkette said as she showed him the scrolls.

"How did you get those? Actually it doesn't matter now we can go straight to the tower."

"Alright but you need to rest first."

"Don't worry I'm fine and I can rest when we get to the tower."

"But Sasuke..."

"I said we're going to the tower now," he growled. Sakura nodded, deciding getting him angry was not a good idea and with that they jumped into the forest heading towards the tower.

Naruto arrived at the tower within a few hours after he engaged a team from Ame that was trying to steal as many scrolls as possible. He defeated them easily and took their scrolls; they had five Earth Scrolls and one Heaven scroll. When he arrived the Sand Siblings and Team 8 were already there having completed the test within hours of it beginning. Over the next four days only five more teams arrive; Teams Kabuto, Dosu, Guy, 7 and 10. Once the time limit expired the teams that passed were led into a large arena. On the opposite side of the room was a large statue of a ram seal and on either side of the arena was stands placed about halfway up the wall. Standing in front of the statue was the Third Hokage along with the jōnin squad leaders of the teams that passed.

"Alright you maggots Lord Hokage has something to say so be quiet and listen up!" Anko shouted, she then turned to the old man and nodded. "Lord Hokage they're all yours."

"Thank you Anko. Now before we start the final stage of the chūnin exams I would like to tell you all the true purpose of the exams," he said, waiting a moment to let it sink in. "The exams are held between allied villages to support friendship between villages. Now the exams originated during times of war, each village would choose a champion to represent them and those champions would fight against each other to the death. The chūnin exams are a chance for each nation to show their power by pitting their shinobi against others. The villages that prove to be the strongest then get more clients and become more wealthy where as the weaker villages will lose clients and they will become poorer. Remember this a nations strength is the village's strength and the village's strength is its shinobi's strength and a shinobi's true strength is only shown when it is pushed to its limits such as in a life or death battle."

"Then why did you say the exams are used to support friendship?" Tenten asked.

"You must remember that in the shinobi world fighting and dying for your nation and comrades is friendship. Now I will explain the rules for the third and final stage of the exams," the old man said but before he could continue a jōnin appeared before him.

"Lord Hokage before you begin can I would like to explain something to these genin," the man said.

"Go ahead," the Hokage said. The jōnin stood then turned to face the chūnin-hopefuls.

"It's very nice to meet you...I'm Hayate Gekkō and I'm going to be the proctor for the third exam," he said between coughs. "Now before we begin the third exam we're...going to have to hold a preliminary exam before we move onto the real one. The reason is that the first two exams may have been too easy or you guys are stronger but an unusually large number of genin have passed the second test. The preliminaries will be one-on-one sudden death fights. If anyone wants to give up or feels they are unable to continue now is the time."

"Proctor I'm unable to fight," Kabuto said as he raised his hand.

"Alright Kabuto Yakushi please exit the arena," Hayate said. Kabuto nodded and walked to the exit. "Anyone else want to leave? Alright we'll begin the preliminaries now. The match will stop when one of you is incapacitated, killed or surrenders. As the proctor if I say to stop the match you'll stop if not you'll be disqualified from the exam. Anko?"

"Right," she said before speaking into her mic. A panel behind the statue opened to reveal a electronic board.

"This board will determine who you'll fight, the names are completely chosen at random. Seeing as there's nothing more to say let's begin," he said before the board went through all the names before landing on Sasuke Uchiha and Yoroi Akadō. "Will everyone please leave the arena except the two candidates."

After everyone left the arena the match began. Naruto watched as the matches went by with boredom eventually he was going to have a match against Kiba Inuzuka. He jumped over the railing and landed in the arena while Kiba did the same with his dog Akamaru.

"You should give up now to save yourself the embarrassment of losing," Kiba said while his dog yipped. "There's no way you can win."

"We'll see," Naruto replied.

"Begin!" Hayate declared.

"Ninja Art Beast Mimicry: All Fours Jutsu," Kiba said as he got on all fours. He charged at Naruto and tried to hit him but Naruto dodged the attack and kicked Kiba in the face sending him skidding backwards.

"Is that all you got," Naruto taunted. "I heard the Inuzuka clan had powerful ninja I guess you're the weakling in the family. No wonder why your attacks are so weak."

"I'll show, Akamaru," Kiba said before throwing his dog a food pill. Akamaru ate it and the instant he did his fur turned red and he seemed to become more feral. In a puff of smoke there were two Kibas after Kiba shouted his Man Beast Clone jutsu.

"Oh great there are two of you I could hardly stand the stench of one," Naruto continued to taunt, Kiba grinned and threw two smoke grenades at Naruto and soon he was surrounded by a purple fog. "It doesn't matter even if the smoke hides you you're still going to lose."

"Man-Beast Ultimate Taijutsu: Fang Over Fang," the feral boy shouted as he and his dog twin became twisters that headed towards Naruto. Soon all three of them were hidden by the smoke and no one could see the battle. As the smoke cleared everyone could see Naruto standing over the unconscious forms of Kiba and Akamaru. Hayate called the match and the medics came and took Kiba and Akamaru away on a stretcher while Naruto returned to the stands.

The rest of the matches passed quickly Hinata forfeited when she had to fight her cousin, Gaara beat Lee by restraining him with his sand and holding a kunai to his neck and Dosu won by using his sound attack through his melody arm.

"I congratulate the winners of the preliminaries for their performance," Hiruzen said to the nine genin lined up in front of him. "The final exam will be held one month from now. This is to give you time to train because now that we've all seen your skills your opponents will figure out ways to counter them. But this is not the sole reason; we also need time to sent invitations to foreign dignitaries who might become your future employers. Now the exam will be set up like a tournament you will each get a slip of paper from Anko and that will determine your opponent."

"I'll come to you so stay put," she said before walking along the line as each of them took a slip of paper.

"Starting from the left tell us your number," Ibiki said. As they called out their numbers Ibiki wrote their names on the paper he had. When he revealed it to show the set up it showed Naruto vs. Neji, Gaara vs. Sasuke, Kankurō vs. Shino, Shikamaru vs. Dosu and Temari vs. whoever won the fight between Shikamaru and Dosu.

"You have one month to prepare and I wish you all good luck," the aged Kage said before leaving.

**A/N: Ok here are the results for the poll:**

**1st place: Mei Terumī**

**2nd place: Yūgao Uzuki, Tayuya and Kushina Uchiha (Sasuke's sister)**

**3rd place: Anko Mitarashi and Yugito Nii**

**4th place: Ino Yamanaka, Shizune, Tsunade Senju, Kurenai Yūhi, Temari and Female Haku**

**5th place: Kin Tsuchi and Ayame **

**6th place: Hinata Hyūga **

**7th place: Sakura Haruno and Fū **

**8th place: Other**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I know this chapter is long overdue and I apologize but to make it up to my readers I'll try to post the next chapter sometime this week or next week.**

**As a reply to the review from Hanipman, Sakura isn't in the harem only the girls that came in First, Second and Third are in the harem. So the list for the harem is Mei, Yūgao, Kushina Uchiha, Tayuya, Anko and Yugito. Also I may add girls from the harem randomly and even though Mei won the poll I probably won't put her as the main love interest.**

**On a separate note I will be using dragons from the Monster Hunter franchise because I can't be bothered to make up dragons and the Monster Hunter franchise doesn't get enough popularity outside of Japan.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Monster Hunter.**

A month had passed since the preliminaries and now the finalists were standing in the centre of the battlefield, only Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Namikaze and Dosu Kinuta were absent. In the Kage Box the five Kages sat with their bodyguards standing near them while they waited for the exams to begin and, in the area below, the heads of clans as well as feudal lords sat. Genma Shiranui was filling in for Hayate who had been ordered by his doctor to stay in bed. Hiruzen stood up and announced the start of the final exam and all the genin except Neji walked up to the waiting area.

"Looks like he chickened out," Neji said.

"Who chickened out?" Naruto asked as he appeared in a burst of flames. He had ditched his cloak so everyone could see what he looked like.

He wore blue sandals, blue shinobi pants, black fingerless gloves with metal plates on the back, a black short sleeved shirt and metal arm guards (Like Kakashi used to wear) over all this he wore a black short sleeved long coat with golden flame-like motifs along the bottom. Due to the fact that he didn't wear a headband his spiky blonde hair with navy blue tips hung over his eyes.

"Good you're here," Genma said. "Begin whenever you're ready."

"Give up now while you still have some dignity," Neji said while getting into the gentle fist stance.

"I don't know about you _Hyūga _but I wouldn't be insulting a Kumo-nin, we still think highly of the byakugan you know," Naruto said in an aloof manner. "But then I suppose if I wanted the byakugan I could just ask Hinata to come with me back to Kumo, she'd say yes in a heartbeat and get us there faster than my dad could use the Flying Thunder God Jutsu."

"You should never talk like that about Lady Hinata in front me," he said angrily.

"Why? We both know you hate her and every other member of the main house and that if she did leave you wouldn't care in the least."

"I said shut up!" Neji shouted with his byakugan active and aiming a strike at the jinchūriki's heart. Naruto swiped the attack away like it was an annoying fly and followed up with a punch to the Hyūga's chest. Neji stumbled backwards but quickly regained his composure then charged at Naruto again while trying to hit a chakra point near his heart. The blonde jumped away to dodge the attack and landed halfway up one of the arena walls.

"Fire Style: Burning Earth Jutsu," Naruto shouted as a stream of fire erupted from his mouth and set the battlefield ablaze. The entire floor was covered in fire and after a few minutes the flames began to die down revealing Neji standing in the centre of a crater surrounded by fire. "So that's the ultimate defence of the Hyūga."

"Nothing can defeat the Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation," Neji stated.

"We'll see about that. Uzumaki Secret Jutsu: Whirlpool Summoning," the jinchūriki said, the battlefield was instantly covered in water that began to spin violently until a whirlpool formed with Neji at the centre of it. The Hyūga prodigy jumped above the water and used chakra to stand on the whirlpool that was beginning to slow down until it stopped completely leaving the arena filled with water as high as the waiting area for the other genin. Naruto jumped away from the wall and aimed a punch at Neji but the Hyūga grabbed his fist and landed a strike against a chakra point, closing it, before Naruto landed a kick to his opponent's chest and dove underwater. Neji dove after him and the two started exchanging blows with both of them taking hits but there was one major difference; Neji needed to resurface or risk drowning where as Naruto had used a jutsu to let him hold his breath for extremely long periods of time.

_In the stands_

Meanwhile everyone was watching the two boys fight in the clear water. Some were worried about how long they could stay down there while others were more concerned about whether they were going to lose their money.

"How long do you think they hold their breaths for?" Ino asked worriedly to her rival.

"Who cares as long as Naruto drowns," Sakura replied.

"But what about what Naruto did for you in the forest of death?" Chōji asked.

"Just one act of kindness can't make up for all the people he's killed."

"Billboard brow how many times do I have to tell you he's not a demon?" Ino asked angrily. At this point Chōji had decided not to leave the two alone since they were usually violent during these conversations.

"If he's not a demon explain why he looks the way he is."

"Because he's the son of the Fourth you idiot."

"I know that I meant right now."

"What are you talking about billboard brow?"

"Look Ino-pig," Sakura said while pointing at the fight. When Ino looked back Naruto was still fighting Neji underwater but now he was surrounded by something red that looked like a fox with two tails, his hair looked wilder and his eyes were blood red with slitted pupils.

"He's only using two tails which means he's not the demon otherwise there would be nine tails," she replied.

"Fine believe he's not a demon but don't blame me when he goes berserk," Sakura said while watching the fight.

_In the Kage box_

"Lord Hokage what should we do it seems he's lost control," an ANBU asked to his leader.

"Leave him be he's not lost control and his control won't even start to waver unless he uses all nine-tails," A, the Raikage, said.

"Oh and how do you know this Lord Raikage?" Hiruzen asked intrigued.

"I've watched his training with my younger brother who is the Eight Tails' jinchūriki," he said. "And if he truly did lose control he would be emitting killer intent but he hasn't released even a bit."

"It's true he's got as much control over his beast as the Sage of Six Paths probably had over it," Ōnoki, the Tsuchikage, said.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he had even more," Yagura, the Mizukage, said.

"Well it appears you should leave him be captain," the Hokage said to the ANBU, said ANBU nodded and disappeared.

_Back to the fight_

Neji was currently trying to resurface and breathe but his opponent just kept coming at him from seemingly every angle. Every time he got close to the surface he was dragged back down and when he tried to fight back he couldn't because the red chakra that surrounded Naruto burned him so he was left defenceless and trying to escape before he lost consciousness or drowned.

"Do you surrender?" Naruto asked as he appeared in front of Neji. "If you don't surrender you'll probably drown. What's more important; your pride or your life?"

If Neji was in the right mind he would've probably been asking himself how Naruto could breathe, let alone talk, underwater but currently he was just trying to live and all of his thoughts were on that one thing.

"I'll ask again do you surrender?" the blonde asked, the prodigy nodded before finally blacking out. Naruto grabbed his limp body while deactivating the chakra shroud and he brought the unconscious boy to the surface. He deactivated his jutsu and the water receded until they were left in a muddy battlefield. Medics came and took Neji to the infirmary while Naruto was announced the winner.

Gaara then won his match by default when Sasuke failed to show, Kankurō forfeited his match to the Aburame and Temari won her match against Shikamaru when the lazy Nara surrendered, leaving Naruto the only one who didn't win by default.

"For the first semi final match will Gaara and Naruto Namikaze please come down here," Genma said, both boys jumped out of the waiting area and landed in the arena.

When their match started both jinchūriki jumped away from each other to keep as much distance between them as possible. As Naruto was about to unleash a jutsu he stopped when Sasuke Uchiha and his sensei Kakashi Hatake appeared in the middle of the arena.

"Sorry we're late," Kakashi apologized to the crowd.

"You're getting in the way of our fight!" Naruto shouted irritably.

"Shut up demon you shouldn't even be here," Sasuke said coldly.

"Says the guy with a hickey from Orochimaru," Gaara said and the crowd burst out into laughter while Sasuke's fangirls were glaring daggers at the Suna-nin.

"You're getting in the way of an official match, leave or be arrested," Genma said.

"You can't arrest me I'm an Uchiha right Kakashi-sensei," the Uchiha said smugly, however when he didn't get a reply he turned to glare at his sensei only to see he had vanished.

"He left the minute Gaara mentioned your hickey," Naruto said causing a vein to pop on Sasuke's forehead. "And by the way just because you have Uchiha blood doesn't mean you're exempt from the law. Now move."

"He's right now are you going to leave or be arrested?" Genma asked. Sasuke growled before storming out of the arena.

"Finally now we can get started," Naruto cheered.

"Sand Shower Barrage," Gaara said as dozens of sand bullets shot towards Naruto.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu," the blonde countered. The sand and fire bullets met halfway and both attacks cancelled each other out. Wind chakra suddenly erupted from all of Naruto's chakra points covering him in a layer of wind that was in constant motion.

"This is going to hurt," the red said out loud while bracing himself for the imminent impact. Naruto vanished in a burst of speed and delivered a punch to Gaara's gut with enough strength to send him flying into the arena wall where a crater was formed. The sand armour he had used crumbled and fell away revealing his skin that was badly bruised. "You know if I hadn't used my sand armour that would have probably killed me."

"Maybe but who said I was going to hold back," Naruto said as he appeared before his friend in another burst of speed. He held a kunai against his neck and applied enough pressure to draw a small amount of blood. "You gonna give up?"

Before Gaara could answer an explosion came from the Kage box which was covered in smoke blocking everyone's view of what was happening. Suddenly two figures jumped out of the smoke and landed on the roof closely followed by seven others. That was when Naruto noticed everyone in the crowd was asleep except for most of the ninja.

"Looks like it's started," Naruto commented while withdrawing the kunai and stopping the chakra surrounding him. He held his hand out and helped Gaara to his feet while trying to ignore the fighting shinobi around them. However he couldn't ignore it when the sound of birds chirping filled the arena from directly behind him.

"I've finally got a chance to kill you demon," Sasuke said as he slowly walked towards them, the lightning in his right hand illuminated his face that had a maniacal grin on it. "This is an invasion so when it's over no one can blame me for your deaths."

"We could say the same to you but we don't like killing people," Naruto said.

"Then this will be easy," Sasuke replied before running as fast as he could with the intent to pierce the blonde jinchūriki's heart.

**Jutsu list:**

**Name: Fire Style: Burning Earth Jutsu  
>Rank: B-rank<br>Range: Mid – Long range  
>Description:<br>A stream of fire erupts from the user's mouth and sets anything it touches on fire. Mainly used to change the battlefield to the user's advantage or used to keep enemies at bay.**

**Name: Uzumaki Secret Jutsu: Whirlpool Summoning  
>Rank: A-rank<br>Range: All Ranges  
>Description:<br>The user can summon a whirlpool using the moisture in the air and no matter where they are one can be summoned. A few minutes after being summoned the whirlpool will stop but the water will remain for however long the user wishes.**


End file.
